THE assault on Tony Blair, showered with purple powder, sent MPs scurrying from the Commons chamber.

But it also had journalists stampeding down the corridors of power towards the dramatic incident.

Mr Blair had crossed swords in the Commons chamber with Tory leader Michael Howard, who had taunted him about his future.

Then, halfway through Question Time, that first missile was launched from the VIP gallery one floor up and with worrying accuracy struck the Prime Minister on his back.

It showered his grey suit with a purple powder, later judged to be harmless coloured cornflour. Mr Blair seemed unaware of the fact that he had been hit, although deputy John Prescott and Chancellor Gordon Brown spotted the purple haze around their leader.

Crackdown

In a crowded chamber, with more than 400 MPs in their place, the head doorkeeper burst in pointing up to the two men in the VIP gallery above, who had thrown the two containers of powder at Mr Blair.

They were immediately hustled out by Commons officials but the Speaker, Michael Martin, then suspended the sitting and MPs left the chamber.

As it emptied, the bars filled up and there were grim warnings that the incident will lead to a severe new security crackdown, following the decision to erect a glass screen in front of the public gallery.

At the back of many MPs minds was the though that although this was a non-fatal attack, the powder could have been deadly anthrax or sarin.

Security chiefs have already suggested a wall around the Commons, topped with razor wire.

But MPs are aware that this would not have prevented an innocent member of the House of Lords, a former MP, signing in the protesters and allowing them to sit in the VIP gallery from where they launched their attack.